Getting My CDL On A Budget.

So I passed my written test for class B with various endorsments. I live paycheck to paycheck and wanted a change. Being money is tight, I absolutely could not afford the proper 4k-6k cdl class. Instead, I did a 2 hour basic crash course on class b, with them letting me use thier truck for the road test for $700 total. Barely passed.

My main question is, who will hire me getting my cdl this way? I talked to a local company and told him I'd work for free for one month learning the trade and gaining skills, after that he could hire me on or cut me loose. I thought that sounded like a win win. He said no. Reason being his fleet is too small and doesn't have the time to train. I wanted local so I hit him with 3 months apprenticeship, free work. He said no! Experienced only.

I thought I sweetened the deal for him, as a business person, and still got denied. Will most not care about me offering up free apprentice work...or was this owner an idiot? Thanks for anyone's input.

Do not know your location but you should not offer to work for free. I do not believe that would be feasible for you or the employer. Look into garbage trucks or local cement or gravel trucks, not a bad place to start and very good money.

John, are you new to our forum?

You can get your CDL free! We show people how to do this all the time. Not only can you get this done for free, but many of these free programs pay you 600 to 700 dollars a week during training.

Look, a class B CDL is not going to help you make more money than you are now. I just don't know why anybody would settle for that, and it still cost you 700 bucks!

Everything about your approach is wrong.

You want local with no experience - that's a really bad approach.

I don't know what to tell you that you haven't already discovered. Nobody in their right mind is going to look favorably at employing you. An inexperienced driver going to local routes will cause their insurance rates to go to unbearable levels.

If you really want to do this you should go through one of the many Paid CDL Training Programs. Then go over the road for one year. Surely you can make a one year commitment to this. I'll bet it took you a full year to save up that 700 bucks you threw down on a class B license.

After one year of safe driving experience, anybody you talk to will be begging you to come on board. If you want something that's valuable like a commercial driving job, you've got to take the proper steps to get there. So far, I'm thinking you took one step forward and two steps back - that won't get it done.

was this owner an idiot?

Certainly not! He is actually very smart. What is it that you are bringing to the table? Brace yourself, here's the reality...

A huge liability.

There's certainly no reason you can't do this, and I'm hoping you'll stick around and learn how to make it in this business. But right now you made some major mistakes in your approach. There's a right way to do this, but you took the shortcut that leads to nowhere.

So basically what I've done is acquired my class B with endorsements blindly thinking I would be an easy hire. Even offering up a month or better apprenticeship, I can skate by living 1-2 months no paycheck maybe.

So what I now have to do is go back to a school and acquire a class A through the proper channels? As in I wasted $$$ and nobody will take me in?

As far as "never work for free", I know. But if it's to get a foot in the door with a local dump, cement, straight truck, id do it.

John, you just made a mistake. It can be reversed. Apparently you didn't realize how this works, but you can get your foot in the door if you do it properly. Every great once in a while somebody sneaks in with your approach, but it's highly unlikely and fraught with risk.

Yes, new to the forum. Sorry. New to all of this in general. I wanted to get my cdl because I was sick and tired of warehouse work. Time fly's when your out and about. Just looking for advise on how to go about having a class b with minimal driving experience and what I can expect as far as being hired. Offering up a month or two apprenticeship sounded solid to me.

Offering up a month or two apprenticeship sounded solid to me.

It's not a good plan at all. What happens if you run over a minivan full of somebody's precious kids while working for free?

Employer: "I don't know who that guy is. He's not even on our payroll." Do you want to expose yourself to that kind of legal liability. Truck drivers go to prison sometimes for killing people in accidents. You've laid out the perfect scenario for getting yourself into some really deep doo-doo.

We can show you the way. Start out reading some of these links.

• Truck Driver's Career Guide
• Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
• High Road CDL Training Program
• CDL Practice Tests

John, you just made a mistake. It can be reversed. Apparently you didn't realize how this works, but you can get your foot in the door if you do it properly. Every great once in a while somebody sneaks in with your approach, but it's highly unlikely and fraught with risk.

Wasn't sure how to go about it. Im mid 20's looking for work, my Grandpa was a dump truck driver most of his career and said he preferred it to otr. I figured a class B with endorsements and I'd be set.

It's a completely different business environment from your grandfather's days. You don't have to be OTR for life. All the smaller outfits with class B jobs just need to see one year of experience. That's the way they can afford to bring you on board. They need that verifiable experience to get a decent rate for insuring you.

Trust me, that one year of OTR will fly by. You'll either love it or hate it. I can't tell you how many people like you wanted to just get that one year over with, and then discovered they really liked the job and the big paychecks.

It's a completely different business environment from your grandfather's days. You don't have to be OTR for life. All the smaller outfits with class B jobs just need to see one year of experience. That's the way they can afford to bring you on board. They need that verifiable experience to get a decent rate for insuring you.

Trust me, that one year of OTR will fly by. You'll either love it or hate it. I can't tell you how many people like you wanted to just get that one year over with, and then discovered they really liked the job and the big paychecks.

So to confirm everything said, go back and get a class A from a real school. Sign on with an otr outfit for minimum of 1 year, then go from there?

Summing up that my class B is useless. Million to one type of long shot that any cement, dump, septic, lp, straight truck company would hire me? Ouch. Ok thanks for your help.